Is this new diet pill a load of crap?

Soon researchers may find a simple pill to treat obesity. Sound like a load of crap? Well, that is exactly what it is. The latest research in diet pills involves a study utilizing fecal matter from lean subjects ingested by a pilot group of obese subjects in pill form.

The official term, according to the National Institute of Health Clinical Trials division, is Fecal Microbiota Transplant (FMT), which is a fancy way of saying that scientists plan to make a poo pill to treat obesity.Researchers note, “Multiple lines of evidence suggest that gut microbiota play an important role in regulating human metabolism. In this study, subjects will receive FMT capsules from lean metabolically healthy donors to study effects on body weight and insulin sensitivity.”

Dr. Elaine Yu, assistant professor and clinical researcher leading the experiment promises that the study participants won’t be able to tell the difference between the placebo and the fecal matter. “The pills are odorless, tasteless and double-encapsulated to ensure they will not release until they reach the right location in the large intestine,” Yu told the New York Daily News.

The 24 week study has not yet begun, but Dr. Yu cautions, “We don’t know what the results of this trial will be. DIY experiments make me very nervous, as a physician and as a researcher.”

So don’t get your colon in a wad; be patient, results will be forthcoming.